Erie woman gets 18 to 40 years in boyfriend's slaying

In this Dec. 7, 2012, file photo, Rachel A. Kozloff is escorted through the Erie County Courthouse by Erie County Deputy Sheriff Anthony Sanfillipo following morning court proceedings. On Jan. 29, Kozloff, 31, was sentenced to 18 to 40 years in state prison for fatally shooting her boyfriend in a jealous rage in April 12, 2012.ERIE TIMES-NEWS

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ERIE, Pa. -- Rachel A. Kozloff's lies to the Erie police did not help her before a jury.

They did not help her before the sentencing judge either.

Erie County Judge Shad Connelly on Tuesday cited Kozloff's deception and lack of remorse and sentenced the 31-year-old Erie resident to 18 to 40 years in state prison for fatally shooting her boyfriend in a jealous rage in April.

Through the entire case, Connelly said, "the defendant proved to be a consummate liar."

Kozloff denied killing the victim, Michael Henry, 31, until she took the stand at trial and argued self-defense. She hid the 17-round Glock handgun she used to shoot him four times -- police never recovered it -- and disposed of her bloody shirt.

The sentence was in the high end of the standard range for Kozloff, who was convicted Dec. 7 of three charges, including third-degree murder, or an unpremeditated killing with malice.

The murder count carried a maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years. Connelly could have given Kozloff to up to 47 years overall.

Kozloff, formerly of the 1300 block of West 11th Street, cried as she apologized to Connelly and said she never meant to kill Henry. She said she never intended to be "drawn into" a confrontation with him. The situation that night at Henry's apartment, Kozloff said, was "totally out of control."

District Attorney Jack Daneri asked Connelly to impose the maximum sentence. He said Kozloff remained deluded into believing she was the victim and that Henry was the aggressor.

Trial evidence, including thousands of text messages Kozloff sent to Henry during their eight-week relationship, showed Kozloff suspected Henry was cheating on her and that she went to his apartment the night of April 12 despite him telling her to leave him alone.

"Even to this day," Daneri told Connelly, "she sees this as not being her fault."

Kozloff, a divorced mother of four children, had no prior record. Her mother, Jan Kozloff, and the Rev. Al Detter, a pastor at Grace Church in McKean Township, asked Connelly to consider her past and give her a lenient sentence.

Detter said he had known Rachel Kozloff since she was a child, and that he saw "two sides" to her as a teenager -- a young woman who was respectful and religious but who made poor choices. Detter said he did not see Kozloff as "a threat to society in any fashion."

Kozloff's court-appointed lawyer, Jamie Mead, said the evidence was more consistent with manslaughter than murder, but he told Connelly he accepted the jury's verdict in the five-day trial. He said Kozloff could be rehabilitated and asked for a sentence on the low end of the standard range.

Mead is a board member and shareholder of the Times Publishing Company, which publishes the Erie Times-News and GoErie.com.

Connelly's courtroom was packed with about 50 spectators, with about 30 seated on the side of the gallery reserved for family and supporters of Henry, the victim, who was a member of the Iron Wings motorcycle club.

His brother, Brian Henry, told Connelly the family continues to mourn for Michael Henry and his now-fatherless son, who was 10 months old in April. The boy was sleeping in another room of Henry's apartment, at 415 E. 18th St., near Parade Street, when Kozloff opened fire as Henry rested on a sofa bed. He was unarmed.

Brian Henry said his brother "was finally changing his life around" when Kozloff killed him.

"We want some justice," Brian Henry said.

Kozloff was also convicted of the first-degree misdemeanor of possessing an instrument of crime and the second-degree misdemeanor of recklessly endangering another person. Those two charges carried a combined maximum sentence of seven years.

Kozloff, whose children have been living with relatives, authorities said, will not be eligible for parole until she serves at least 18 years, or when she is 49 years old. She showed no emotion as she left the courtroom in handcuffs.

"She is a murderer," Daneri said after the sentencing, "and she is going where murderers belong, plain and simple."